Method of and apparatus for treating casein curd.



No. 629,644. Patented m 25,1899.

L. AXTELL.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING CASEIN CUBD.

(Application filed May 26, 1898.) (No Model.) '6 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

e A .INVENTOI? BY @w I! I f Y aZZ, ATTUHNEYS.

WITNESSES m: NORRIS PEYERS co., Puma-Lima, WASNINGTON, u. c.

. No. 629,644. Patented July 25, I899.

' L. AXTELL.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING CASEIN CUBD. (Application filed May25:, 1898.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

- WITNESSES: INVENTOR flwam l. B)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUOIUS AXTELL, OF TOMPKIN S, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO DAVID W. LEWIS, OFROCK ROYAL, NEW YORK.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FoR TREATING cAsEm ouRo.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,644, dated .mly'es,1899.

Application filed May 26,1898. Serial No. 681,779. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LUOIUS AXTELL, of the town of Tompkins, county ofDelaware, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Methodsof and Apparatus for Treating Casein, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for treating casein,but more particularly to treating what is commonly known as casein curd.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatuswhereby casein curd of a gluey consistency may be treated so as toproduce a dry brittle article which will be white and durable, so as tomaterially enhance the value of the same, and to provide an articlewhich is better adapted for use in the manufacture of paper.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficientapparatus by which the glutinous'curd may be agitated and subjected to adrying and oxidizing agent while exposed to light and which will permitthe curd to be under complete control while the process is being carriedinto effect.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in themethod and apparatus substantially as hereinafter described and thenpointed out in the claims at the'end of the description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section, partly inelevation, of one form of apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is atransverse vertical section taken on the line 11 II of Fig.1; and Fig. 3is a vertical sectional view taken immediately in front of theexhaust-fan, the lower portion of the apparatus being broken away.

The hollow base 10 may be of any suitable form or material and may haveat one side thereof a trough or receptacle, as 10, into which thematerial after being treated may be placed for removal, and in the base10 is arranged a coil or series of coils of pipe 11, through which maypass a suitable heating medium, as steam, in order to heat the air orother agent which may pass into the base through the opening 11 in theforward portion thereof. The opening 11 is controlled bya suitable door12, which may have a rack 13, adapted to be engaged by a pivoted pawl14, arranged on the base 10, so as to adapt the door 12 to be readilyraised or lowered to any desired position to regulate the quantity ofair to be heated, though instead of this construction other means may beemployed for regulating t-hesupply of air. At its rear end the hollowbase 10 merges in a chamber 15,

which projects upward from the base and receives one end of therotatable drum 16, so that the heated air from the base passes upwardthrough the chamber 15 and into the drum 16, as more specificallypointed out below.

Thedrum 16 may be of any desired form or construction and operated inany suitable manner. As shown, the drum is in the form of a cylinder andhas at any suitable point flanged rings or runners 17, the flanges ofwhich engage grooves in the supportingvwheels 18, the latter beingsecured on shafts 19, which are journaled in the bearings 20, the latterextending transversely of the machine, so that the grooved wheels 18will support the drum on opposite sides of its vertical center. The drum16, intermediate its ends, may be provided with a worm-gear 20, which isnormally in mesh with a worm 21, arranged on the shaft 22. This shaft isj ournaled in bearings 23 and has a pulley 24 secured thereto, so thatwhen the shaft 22 is rotated the worm 21, through the worm-gear 20, willcause rotary motion to be imparted to the drum 16. The drum 16 may haveat one'end thereof a suitable screen or gauze 25, through which the airfrom the chamber 15 is deflected, and at the opposite end thereof mayhave an Opening covered by a suitable screen or gauze 26.

The forward end of the drum is reduced somewhat, as at 27, in which maybe arranged an exhaust-fan 28, secured to a shaft 29 and rotated bymeans of a pulley, as 30, the shaft 29 being journaled in a spider, as32, arranged in the portion 27 of the drum and in a suitable bearing, as31, or otherwise, as desired. By this means when movement in the properdirection is given to the fan 28 air will be drawn into the opening 11through the base 10, where it is heated and from there passes into thechamber 15 and then through the drum 16, so as to come in contact withthe curd in the drum.

For the purpose of imparting a vibratory action as well asa rotaryact-ion to agitate the curd and to subject the same to the action oflight while being treated I arrange longitudinally of the drumintersecting plates 33, so as to form pockets in which the curd isplaced. As shown, the plates are of wire-gauze of any suitable mesh andare arranged so as to form four pockets or divisions, but this numbermay'be varied if found desirable. Each pocket of the drum is providedwith an opening controlled by a door 3%, which may be hinged, as at'35,to the drum and normally secured in a closed position bya catch orpivoted latch, as 36, so that the material may be readily placed in thepockets and held therein during the movement of the drum or removedafter the curd has been treated. The drum 16 may be of anysuitablematerial and at intervals thereof may have windows or openin gs thereinin which are placed the plates 37, which may conform to the contour ofthe drum and may be of either glass or other transparent or translucentmaterial in order to subject the curd to light during treatment, so asto cause a whitening or bleaching effect, though instead of the windows37 any part, either as an entirety or portions thereof, may be made oftransparent or translucent material.

The woven-wire screens adjusted inside of the cylinder and dividing thesame into divisions or sections results when the cylinder is kept incontinuous rotary motion in the sliding of the curd upon the plates orscreens, which screens, owing to their being more or less flexible,impart a vibratory motion to the curd, so as to jar or loosen theparticles thereof. The curd thus being kept in continuous motion forsome hours by the action of the air, will pulverize gradually, and thecylinder being constructed in part of glass or other translucentsubstance keeps the curd subject to motion, light, and heated air all atthe same time, thus securing the transformation of the soft glutinouscurd into a dry merchantable article of the quality desired. Thisagitation of the curd is important, for owing to the soft glueyconsistency thereof when placed in the drum if the curd dropped somedistance the screens or other devices which might beem ployed wouldbecome clogged,and the curd would then scorch and burn, which would ruinthe article.

The method and the construction and operation of the apparatus will beunderstood from the foregoing description when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings.

The curd is obtained by eliminating the fat from the milk, this beingusually done by a centrifugal machine or separator, and then subjectingthe milk to chemicals, such as sulfuric acid,so as to reduce the curd tothe proper consistency in the usual or any preferred manner. In thisstate the soft casein curd is placed in the different pockets ordivisions of the drum 16 by means of the doors 34. If the coils 11 areheated, the door 12 opened, and the fan 28 operated, air will be drawnin the direction of the arrows through the open hollow base into thechamber and in and through the drum, which latter, as before stated, isrotated by the worm-gear and the worm 21. As the drum rotates the curdslides over the screens or perforated plates, if used, and by thevibratory motion of the same will be broken or separated into particles,and in this way the heated air will come in 'contact more or less withevery portion thereof, the curd during the rotary motion beingconstantly subjected to light through the transparent ortranslucentplates 37. After the.curd has been rotated until the article has beenthoroughly treated, which sometimes requires about eighteen hours, thedoors are opened and the dry material is removed from the openings inthe drum covered by the doors 34: or permitted to fall through the sameupon the hollow base 10, from which it may be forced or drawn into thetrough 10, and from there removed and placed in any suitable receptacleor device for transportation or other purposes.

I thus provide a simple and efficient method and apparatus formanufacturing an article for use in sizing paper which is of the desiredquality and whiteness and which is under complete control while beingtreated. This article is at one step in the method a casein curd, butwhen completed as described it ceases to be a curd and becomes amaterial suitable for use as a size.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The herein-described method of treating casein foruse in the manufacture of paper, which consists in eliminating the fatfrom milk, reducing the same to a curd, agitating the curd and forcingheated air through the material during the agitation and until thematerial is thoroughly dry.

2. The herein-described method of treating casein for use in themanufacture of paper, which consists in eliminating the fat from milk,reducing the milk to a curd, agitating the curd, and submitting the curdto the action of light and heated air while it is being agitated anduntil the material is thoroughly dry, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described method of treating casein for use in themanufacture of paper, which consists in removing the fat from milk,reducing the milk to a curd, keeping the curd in a state of agitationand vibration to break IIO and gradually pul'verize the same andsubjecting the curd while being agitated and vibrated to the action oflight and heated air until thoroughly dry, substantially as described.

4. An apparatus of the kind described comgrising a hollow basecontaining means for eating air Within it, means for admitting air Q tooneend of the base, a chamber projecting upward from the opposite end ofthe base, said chamber opening from the base, a rotatable drum lyingparallel with and above the base, said drum being mounted at one end inthe chamber and provided at both ends with screen covered openings,radially-arranged pockets in the drum, and means for exhausting the airfrom the drum, chamber and base,- substantially as described.

5. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a hollow basecontaining a heatingcoil, a door at one end of the base, a chamber atthe opposite end, said chamber projecting upward above the base, arotatable drum having screened end openings, one end of the drum beingheld in the aforesaid chamber, and means as an exhaust-fan forwithdrawing the air from the drum and chamber, sub= stantially asdescribed.

- I LUOIUS AXTELL. Witnesses:

A. M. CABLE,

FRANK COLE.

